Snake Lord
The Snake Baron is an Apostle of the God Hand and the first Antagonist of the series. He has made himself the local ruler of the town of Koka, in place of the Lord Mayor of Koka and feeds on the local prisoners. Appearance The Baron in his human form is depicted much like Count Orlok with a long, pale face containing sharp, yet separated teeth much like the snake Apostle he is. His hair is a dark, slicked back black and his eyes pale as can be while resembling a snake. He is also shown to be fairly tall, yet very skinny and wears the dress of a noble, a dark open trench coat of sorts with a white furred trim running from the base to the collared hood, the result bears semblance to a cobra. Beneath that he wears a red linen, button down shirt and dark pants. The Baron in his Snake Armour is shown to be a much more massive character (much like many of the human enemies that Guts faces in the series) and symbolizes the monstrous form he takes when he uses his Apostle abilities. The Armour is heavily plated in gold decoration with a reptilian motif, including claws on the tops of the gauntlets and an armored hood that looks like the head of a cobra. He later incorporates this piece into his Apostle form. He is equipped with a halberd and rides upon a fine dark horse, adorned in armor itself. It is unknown if he actually needs the armor to enter the Apostle form, but it is likely a part of him regardless. The armor also has a flowing black cape. As an Apostle, he grows in size greatly, being in the rank of large Apostles. His main body takes the form of a massive King Cobra with long, muscular arms and legs. His entire body is coated in hard scale and the only feature left from his human form is situated within the mouth of his Cobra head. Here is his face, having turned into a pinkish hue and in place of his mouth is a long dangling tongue. His tail is another prominent feature, which he likes to display by smacking Guts around with it for a short while. Personality When first shown, he appears to be a calm man and doesn't reprimand the leader of the bandits that caused trouble in the bar earlier but instead moves on to the Mayor and shows his true colour as a despicable man who couldn't care less for human life. As he feasts on a human ear, he describes how cowardly the Mayor is appearing and tosses the ear at him...standing up and beginning a short speech that depicts his dream of seeing humans suffering in a fiery apocalypse and feasting on those he can. He has no qualms about killing anyone (including children, as he has one impaled on his halberd in the manga), but he has not killed any of his own men in the story from what is shown so he might have some respect in this aspect. When in battle, he glorifies himself as an all powerful being due to his species as an Apostle and will stop at nothing to prove that, but he tends to underestimate his opponents (typically humans) as shown with Guts who quickly unhorse s him and sends his human form flying through a building. After taking on his Apostle form, his confidence rises to a Godlike demeanor and he treats Guts more and more like a weakling human than he did before telling him that humans are nothing more than morsels and claims that food should act like food while Guts continues fighting on. However, when the Baron loses most of his body due to several attacks by Guts, his attitude goes from confidence to begging for mercy at a pitiful level. He made himself out to be a higher Apostle than he actually was but in the end, he admitted to Guts that a lowly Apostle like himself knows nothing of the whereabouts or workings of the God Hand. In the very end he shows intense fear of dying like most Apostles near death and therefore dies a weakling after condemning so many as weak themselves. History Snake Baron Arc The Baron is first shown sitting at his table eating a meal (which is later revealed to be human flesh) when he receives news from the leader of the bandits from the tavern that there is a man known as the Black Swordsman roaming about, looking for him. He then proceeds to ask himself in his mind if it could be him...when suddenly one of his men arrives to tell him that the Mayor has arrived, asking for forgiveness on the events that happened earlier that night. The Mayor expresses his deepest apologies as the Baron sits across from him at a table, interrupting him to state that he cares for his own life like the selfish, cowardly human he is. He then stands up and walks to his Armour, revealing his intention of burning the town in somewhat of a poetic manner and in his mind, he'll draw out the Black Swordsman. He orders the Mayor away, most likely to be executed or possibly eaten.Berserk Chapter 1 The Black Swordsman As Guts frees himself with the help of Puck, he watches through the bars to notice that the entire town is on fire. Many of the Baron's henchmen are shown slaying the town's individuals as he arrives on horseback, in complete battle Armour with a young boy (half of his upper body remaining) is turned into a fountain for him to feast upon his blood. Guts shortly arrives thereafter to challenge the Baron, eliminating all henchmen in his way to take on the Baron himself. Confident, he accepts the challenge and rides forward with his halberd to attack Guts...only to find himself quickly off his horse with multiple bolts from the repeating crossbow in his body and head. He stands up, practically unaffected by the wounds and is sent flying back with further bolts into a building behind him. As Guts approaches to finish the job, the Baron suddenly transforms into his Apostle form and uses his long tail to throw Guts back while causing him a bit of damage.Berserk Chapter 1 The Black Swordsman Now in his monstrous form, he arises from the darkness claiming that he'll eat Guts alive and goes on the offensive using his tail as a major weapon. After Guts is beaten to a pulp with blood gushing out of his mouth and laying almost motionless on the ground, the Baron approaches him and picks him up by his right arm to further degrade him as a human with more speeches. Guts however, pulls a trick on him by releasing his hidden arm canon directly into the Baron's face which blows off half of his head and allows Guts to land on his feet again. He then runs forward with the Dragon Slayer and cuts him down, spilling his innards across the floor and ultimately forces him to the ground unable to protect himself. Guts smirks, shooting bolt after bolt into his body to show him that despite the fact that they're incapable of killing him, they still cause pain and makes him savor it as much as he can. The Baron begs more and more for his life, but is unrewarded as Guts cares more for finding out about the God Hand...only to be disappointed when he's awarded nothing more than garbage. He then turns away, informing the Baron that he'll now perish in the ashes...and almost as if done in by Karma, the very town he set ablaze crashes down in the form of burning debris to crush and ultimately scorch him alive until he dies a painful death.Berserk Chapter 1 The Black Swordsman Trivia *For his entire appearance, his face is never shown clearly without shadow. Without the mask, there is always a side angle or some deep shadow covering the character...most likely to install a sense of mystery and darkness to him. With the mask on, his face is typically shown hidden in blackness with glowing white eyes and sometimes his teeth shining through. Guts shares this style during certain times where he's in a Berserk rage, making himself almost appear as a demon. *The Baron doesn't officially have a name of his own, but this is what he is referred to and as such, keeps the title. *Strangely enough, the ear he flicks at the Mayor during the meal is a side item much like a scalleped potato. *The Baron was in possession of a Behelit, much like The Count in the Manga. This is most likely done to make sure that a future Guts would already be in possession of the item. He claims it after the Baron's death. *In the Anime series he is voiced by Kan Tokumaru in Japanese, and by Lex Watus in English. Gallery References Category:Apostle Category:Male Category:Dead Characters Category:Antagonist